Paleoproteomics characterization of fossil arthropod parasitiformes amber inclusions

Paleoproteomics is the proteomics study of ancient proteins, which may be better preserved than DNA in fossil inclusions and particularly in amber fossilized tree resins. However, only yeast proteins were identified in the only paleoproteomics analysis conducted in amber fossil inclusions. In this study, we developed and applied a paleoproteomics approach to study fossil arthropod parasitiformes inclusions in two Burmese (also known as Kachin) amber (Cretaceous, ca. 99 mya) pieces. The results supported the identification of Cornupalpatum sp. and the first report of fossil Holothyrida, Neothyridae at both morphological and molecular levels. Identified proteins such as Actin (Neothyridae and Cornupalpatum sp.), Ubiquitin ( Tetranychus urticae and Ixodes ricinus ), Triosephosphate isomerase ( Aceria tosichella ), NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase and Elongation factor 1-alpha (Neothyridae) were analyzed to evaluate evolutionary trees with possible functional implications. These results provide a paleoproteomics approach to complement morphological studies of the molecular evolution of parasitiformes.